Waldorf grabs lead at Principal Charity Classic

Des Moines, IA – Duffy Waldorf carded a 5-under 67 on Saturday to grab a 1-stroke lead at the Principal Charity Classic.

Waldorf finished two rounds at the Wakonda Club at 8-under-par 136. He will seek his first win on the Champions Tour on Sunday.

"The way the course is set up and the guys in the field, they'll be plenty of guys right there who are going to make a run," Waldorf said about the upcoming final round. "I feel like I just have to play a good solid round and hopefully it'll be good enough to win."

Bart Bryant fired a sizzling 8-under 64 during his second round to vault into a share of second place with Jay Don Blake (66) at 7-under.

Russ Cochran (67) sits in fourth at 6-under, while Peter Senior (65), Michael Allen (67), David Eger (68), Loren Roberts (69) and Tom Lehman (70) are tied for fifth at minus-5.

Waldorf and Lehman entered the day as two of four overnight leaders at 3- under, but it was Neal Lancaster who was the first to pull ahead of the pack after he recorded birdies in four of his first seven holes to move to 4-under.

Lancaster tripped to a bogey at the eighth to drop out of the lead, but recovered with a birdie at the ninth to again take the top spot.

But the overnight leaders then took the course and Lehman opened with a birdie at the first to meet Lancaster at 4-under.

Waldorf would join them with a birdie at the second, and it would eventually become a seven-way tie for the lead when Senior, Bryant, Cochran and Blake all reached minus-4.

Bryant and Cochran pulled ahead with birdies at the 13th and eighth, respectively.

Bryant then moved into the outright lead by picking up another shot at the 15th, but Cochran again met him atop the leaderboard with a birdie at the 11th.

Bryant rolled in his eighth birdie of the day at the 17th to move to 7-under and closed out his bogey-free round with a par at the last to head into the clubhouse with the lead.

"I was in the fairway, which is key out here on all the holes because the rough is fairly penal," Bryant said. "My wedge had just been pitiful all year, and I've worked really hard on it and I'm starting to hit some really good wedge shots."

Cochran briefly joined him there following his birdie at the 13th, but bogeyed the 14th to drop to minus-6. He parred his final four holes to stay there.

Waldorf then made his run, reeling off three straight birdies from the 11th to join Bryant at minus-7.

Blake, meanwhile, capped his bogey-free round that included a run of three straight birdies from the fifth and back-to-back gains at the 13th and 14th with a birdie at the last to make it a three-way tie for the lead.

Waldorf pulled ahead for good with a birdie at the 15th and parred his final three holes to head into Sunday with a 1-stroke advantage.

"There's a lot of guys up there. It'll be a battle. It's fun," Blake said.

NOTES: Waldorf is attempting to become the third straight rookie to win this season ... Fred Funk withdrew prior to the second round because of vertigo ... Blake is trying for his fourth career win on the Champions Tour, while Bryant is seeking his first ... Dan Forsman and Scott Hoch also held a share of the lead at the end of the first round.